Northampton Town v Portsmouth

Northampton Town v Portsmouth

SKY BET LEAGUE 2
Monday April 21st, 3.00pm
Sixfields

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 0

PORTSMOUTH 1

Danny East 6

Attendance: 6,829 (1,329 away fans)

Cobblers: Matt Duke, Leon McSweeney (sub Ian Morris 46), Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, Ben Tozer, Gregor Robertson, Evan Horwood, Ricky Ravenhill (sub Kelvin Langmead 81), Darren Carter, Emile Sinclair (sub Ivan Toney 46), Chris Hackett, John Marquis.

Subs not used: Dean Snedker, Gary Deegan, David Moyo, Alan Connell

Portsmouth: Trevor Carson, Danny East (sub Ricky Holmes 78), Joe Devera, Sonny Bradley, Johnny Ertl, Danny Alfei, Nicky Shorey, Wes Fogden, Patrick Ageymang (sub Michael Drennan 64), Jake Jervis (sub Danny Hollands 53), Jed Wallace

Subs not used: Phillip Smith, Bondz N'Gala, Adam Webster, Rhys McCabe

Referee: Mr D Deadman

Booked:
Cobblers: Ivan Toney (55, 2nd of the season), Evan Horwood (72, 4th), Gregor Robertson (87, 2nd)
Portsmouth: Trevor Carson (72), Nicky Shorey (90)

15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension

Sent off:
Cobblers: none
Portsmouth: none

Sendings off: 2 cautions in one game; 1 match suspension but cautions do not count towards above totals. Other sendings off; 1 or 3 match suspension. Extra match ban for additional sendings off.

Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, Chris Hackett and Darren Carter (back from suspension) all came into the side as boss Chris Wilder made three changes for the Easter Monday visit of Portsmouth. Ian Morris and Alan Connell both dropped to the bench with Zander Diamond missing out having not recovered from the injury he picked up in the draw at Wycombe on Good Friday.

The Cobblers went into the game knowing a draw would lift them out of the bottom two but Portsmouth had the lead on 6 minutes, former Cobblers loanee Danny East with a clipped finish to beat Matt Duke.

Town’s first real chance of the afternoon came on the half hour with Emile Sinclair just failing to get his head to a sumptuous cross from Evan Horwood. Ricky Ravenhill then shot over the bar following some neat build-up play from the home side while John Marquis was denied by a good reaction save from Trevor Carson.

With the Cobblers continuing to press forward Darren Carter saw a shot well-saved by Carson on 44 minutes, his follow-up effort blocked by a Portsmouth defender.

Chris Wilder made a double change at half-time with Ivan Toney and Ian Morris replacing Emile Sinclair and Leon McSweeney.

Doumbe slid a shot just wide on 65 minutes after Marquis did well to head on from a Hackett corner. At the other end, Pompey substitute Michael Drennan shot straight at Matt Duke.

Toney headed over following a concerted spell of Cobblers pressure as the atmosphere around Sixfields really started to build.

Marquis was again thwarted by a smart save from Carson as the game entered the final 15 minutes. The Cobblers then made their third and final change with Kelvin Langmead coming on for Ricky Ravenhill.

As the Cobblers pushed forward they were nearly caught on the counter-attack, Duke making a terrific point blank save to keep out a shot from Portsmouth substitute Ricky Holmes.

Despite all their pressure, and a stoppage time shot from Langmead being deflected wide, the Cobblers couldn’t force an equaliser and Portsmouth left Sixfields with the three points.

COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (3) 8
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (4) 8
CORNERS: (2) 8
FOULS: (5) 10
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 4

PORTSMOUTH MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (1) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (2) 3
CORNERS: (2) 3
FOULS: (4) 13
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (3) 7

The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta.

Match Reports